Rippling Pages: Interviews with Writers

“When I set out to plan the business, I wrote ten words - the world I always kept coming to was community.” The Rippling Pages is all about curating the best writers to inspire you and your writing - today, we're speaking to another curator. Eden Barnes is the owner of Next Chapter Books, an indie women-focussed bookshop in Leeds, and I had a quick chat with her in store.  There's lots going on this week in Leeds. Leeds Lit Fest is starting, and it's Indie Bookshop Week. Here someone who is at the centre of it. Eden tells us: The personal journey to opening a bookshop in Leeds Why she focusses women's writing Balancing commercial and personal interests Creating a safe space and sense of community for readers What she's got planned for next week and the rest of the year.   Remember, if you buy from Rippling Pages Bookshop on bookshop.org.uk are all sourced from indie bookshops! https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink   Check out Next Chapter Books website: https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/ Tickets for Leeds Lit Fest Events: https://www.leedslitfest.co.uk/ Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages 

"It is also difficult to imbue the people and the movements of the past with the complexities we offer ourselves."  If you were to meet a time traveller from the future, what would you ask them? This is the question Roisin Dunnett asks in her novel, A LINE YOU HAVE TRACED (Magpie Books/Oneworld Publications). Spanning over three centuries, three women are connected by forces they, at first, don't understand. From post-WWI Britain, to East End London's modern queer scene, to a portentous dystopian future, Roisin's novel is coded with messages between the past, present and future. It's published by Magpie Books, an imprint of Oneworld.   You can buy A LINE YOU HAVE TRACED from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Support the Rippling Pages on a new Patreon https://patreon.com/RipplingPagesPod?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink   Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages    Rippling Points 2.01 - the past, present and future. 3.55 - is there a past event that influenced this novel? 6.45 - Narratives of women 10.16 - which character did Roisin write first? 11.33 - Why do characters feel out of time 13.02 - Visions and dreams in Roisin's novel 19.24 - what would we do if we could actually see the future? 24.30 - The marshes in Roisin's novel.  29.24 - Does your dad pick up litter? 30.59 - Roisin's writing journey     Reference Points Charles Dickens

“They got fired for that!” Katharina Volckmer is here to discuss her second novel, Calls May Be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes (Indigo Press) and it was live at the Hyde Park Book Club! Thank you to the Hyde Park Book Club for hosting us and Next Chapter Books for supporting the event. This is the second part of our conversation.  Katharina's first novel, THE APPOINTMENT, was translated into over fifteen languages, it was adapted for the stage starring Camille Cottin and was nominated for several prizes. Katharina is in ribald mode in this funny, outlandish, and yet, very melancholic novel about a man called Jimmie who works in a call centre. Jimmie helps holiday makers.  He placates their fears about sharks in the waters of Mykonos, Greece, among many other strange and wonderful challenges.  He also manages a complicated relationship with his mother and has a traumatic memory of an electric carving knife that threatens to burst to the surface. The Irish writer, Colm Tóibín, said the book is ‘filled with brilliant dialogue, unexpected turns, some very dirty talk with sudden bursts of hilarity, and then fierce sadness.' A special treat here - Leeds based poet Kirsty Went gave a reading for, some of her work to open the event. We've re-recorded for the purposes of the podcast. You can buy CALLS MAY BE RECORDED FOR TRAINING AND MONITORING PURPOSES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Where to find Next Chapter Books:  https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/    Rippling Points  1.35 - writing about mothers and fathers 5.03 - clowns 9.45 - on jokes and fantasies  11.23 - Kirsty Went reading  14.19 - questions from the audience - where does the relentless comic vulgarity come from? 20.10 - question from the audience - does this book fit into the wonderfully weird fiction category? Can we have more daring takes in fiction?  23.35- question from the audience - did Katharina know the book would end in this subversive way?  Reference points Thomas Bernhard 

Katharina Volckmer is here to discuss her second novel, Calls May Be Recorded for Training and Monitoring Purposes (Indigo Press) and it was live at the Hyde Park Book Club! Thank you to the Hyde Park Book Club for hosting us and Next Chapter Books for supporting the event. Katharina's first novel, THE APPOINTMENT, was translated into over fifteen languages, it was adapted for the stage starring Camille Cottin and was nominated for several prizes. Katharina is in ribald mode in this funny, outlandish, and yet, very melancholic novel about a man called Jimmie who works in a call centre. Jimmie helps holiday makers.  He placates their fears about sharks in the waters of Mykonos, Greece, among many other strange and wonderful challenges.  He also manages a complicated relationship with his mother and has a traumatic memory of an electric carving knife that threatens to burst to the surface. The Irish writer, Colm Tóibín, said the book is ‘filled with brilliant dialogue, unexpected turns, some very dirty talk with sudden bursts of hilarity, and then fierce sadness.' You can buy CALLS MAY BE RECORDED FOR TRAINING AND MONITORING PURPOSES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages  Where to find Next Chapter Books:  https://www.nextchapterleeds.co.uk/  Rippling Points 05.07 - Katharina's tour of Leeds. 05.49 - What's Katharina's novel about? 08.11 - Jimmie's need for the toilet in the opening scenes! 10.28 - A reading from the novel. 14.07 - Life in a call centre. 16.42 - Experience of moving abroad 19.03 - Why people overshare 20.33 - Differences between this novel and Katharina's previous novel 24.14 - Intimacy and speaking to strangers 26.14 - The other side of anonymity 28.25 - Kafka   Reference Points Franz Kafka The Appointment - Katharina Volckmer

Welcome to the first edition of Rippling Pages: Ask the Host! Over the years, I've been asking the questions, but it's about time I answered some too. So, that's what I've done: I've picked out some questions from the Rippling Pages inbox, and answered them! In this episode, I answer: - Where am I from? - Why did I start the podcast? - Who would I like to interview? - What books have I enjoyed recently? - Would I rather speak every language or to every animal?! Got a question yourself? Why not leave a review and a question and I might pick out one for a future show! ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** Don't forget there's a Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages ***** Lots of books and writer's mentioned in this one Reference Points: Alice Chadwick - Dark Like Under (Daunt Books) Anton Chekhov Vincent Delacroix - Small Boat (Hope Road Publishing) - translated Helen Stevenson Gurnaik Johal - Saraswati (Serpent's Tail) Vincenzo Latronico Tiago Miller Iris Mwanza Oluwaseun Olayiwola - Strange Beach (Fitzcarraldo Editions) Pola Oloixarac Mercè Rodereda Montserrat Roig - The Song of Youth (Fum d'Estampa) Montserrat Roig - Goodbye Ramona (Fum d'Estampa) Montserrat Roig - The Time of the Cherries (Daunt Books) Anthony Shapland - A Room Above a Shop (Granta Books) Olga Tokarczuk Virginia Woolf

"She finds herself in London working in a theatre having to touch people!"   Elaine Garvey, to discuss her novel, THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT, published by Canongate Books. It's 2002. Mairéad Sweeney has moved from rural Ireland to work in London's West End. While the prestige of working in theatre doesn't exactly wear off, the long hours and spoiled actors make Mairéad's transition from Ireland more difficult than it should be. Things get even more difficult when Mairéad has to return home for her grandmother's funeral. It's here she begins to reconcile with the life, people and values she left behind. This is Elaine's first book. She has been published in the Dublin Review and the Winter Papers, and has been awarded funding schemes by the Irish Department of Arts for her writing. ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** You can buy THE WARDROBE DEPARTMENT from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages Rippling Points 1.31 - Why the year 2002? 4.32 - books about women walking. 5.39 - who is Mairéad and why is she in London 7.39 - what is the wardrobe department 9.40 - shadowing the costume department! 12.10 - differences between London and Mairéad's home in Ireland. 13.34 - Mairéad's family. 14:40 - Mairéad's boss. 18.15 - Similarities to the Milkman 21. 16 - when is Mairéad's moment of realisation 23.48 - Choosing your words and religion. 27.29 - Is how Mairéad feels about Ireland different to Elaine? 29.15 - how the novel emerged from a short story. Reference Points Anna Burns - Milkman Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre Seamus Heaney - Sweeney Astray Hilary Mantel - The Mirror and The Light Herta Müller - The Land of Green Plums Rozsika Parker - The Subversive Stich Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway

“It's my mum's favourite book that I wrote!” Benjamin Markovits is here to talk about his new and twelfth novel, THE REST OF OUR LIVES, published by Faber and Faber. Tom Layward has made a pact with himself. After his daughter moves out of college, he's moving out too. His wife had an affair, and he feels like he owes himself a road trip across America. He takes  in the sights, sounds and basketball games of the American heartland and beyond. But he's deferring some health issues and it seems like it's only a matter of time before his body asks him to stop and slow down, some of which was inspired by Ben's own experiences.   Ben's novel, You Don't Have to Live Like This, won the James Tait Black Prize for fiction. He was a Granta Best of Young British Novelists. His writing has featured prolifically in mainstream publications.  We discuss: Are families about power dynamics? Hear about Ben and I reflecting on our family life Is Steph Curry Benjamin's new obsession instead of Michael Jordan? Why is Syme, Ben's first novel, his mum's favourite novel?   ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** You can buy THE REST OF OUR LIVES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages

‘The people I like to write about are what I would describe as moderately successful failures.' Benjamin Markovits is here to talk about his new and twelfth novel, THE REST OF OUR LIVES, published by Faber and Faber. Tom Layward has made a pact with himself. After his daughter moves out of college, he's moving out too. His wife had an affair, and he feels like he owes himself a road trip across America. He takes  in the sights, sounds and basketball games of the American heartland and beyond. But he's deferring some health issues and it seems like it's only a matter of time before his body asks him to stop and slow down, some of which was inspired by Ben's own experiences.   Ben's novel, You Don't Have to Live Like This, won the James Tait Black Prize for fiction. He was a Granta Best of Young British Novelists. His writing has featured prolifically in mainstream publications.  ***** Tickets to Katharina Volckmer in conversation! https://www.seetickets.com/event/katharina-volckmer-in-conversation/hyde-park-book-club/3381984 ***** You can buy THE REST OF OUR LIVES from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages Rippling Points 2.42 - Why Tom goes on a roadtrip 4.12 - Feelings of failure and sport 7.10 - Constructing the narrator 9.00 - Tom's difference to other narrators of Ben's 11.30 - Pick-up basketball 15.15 - East Coast privilege 16.00 - The NBA - basketball and race 21.20 - Katharina Volckmer in conversation  22.45 - Tom's relationship with his children 23.57 - Tom and Ben's illness 26.58 - Matters of life and death 28.10 - Doctors and writers 29.45 - Ben's next steps Reference Points Philip Roth John Updike Ben's novels The Syme Papers Playing Days You Don't Have to Live Like This The Sidekick

"Taylor Swift is somebody who has managed to keep reinventing herself to stay relevant." Welcome to Rippling Points, more content and more insights and inspiration into the craft of literature: Marni Appleton is here to talk about her short story collection, I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY, published by Indigo Press. We discuss: - How Taylor Swift's ability to reinvent herself and stay relevant differs to that of the characters - Ideas of productivity and how they shouldn't reflect your value in the world The modern world Marni presents to us in her stories is one that feels incredibly liberating, but then hinged by archaic attitudes from the past all at the same time. Women go viral on social media for seemingly innocent reasons; open and polyamorous relationships that suddenly feel shut; roles in theatre feel too close to real life. Marni holds a PhD in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Her writing has been published in Banshee, The Tangerine, Contemporary Women's Writing. This is her first collection. You can buy I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages

"It builds to women and girls choosing to hide their mouths because of the effect of this trend...things just morph and take on different meanings as they're shared in different contexts" Marni Appleton is here to talk about her collection of short stories, I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY, published by The Indigo Press. The modern world Marni presents to us in her stories is one that feels incredibly liberating, but then hinged by archaic attitudes from the past all at the same time. Women go viral on social media for seemingly innocent reasons; open and polyamorous relationships that suddenly feel shut; roles in theatre feel too close to real life. Marni holds a PhD in creative writing from the University of East Anglia. Her writing has been published in Banshee, The Tangerine, Contemporary Women's Writing. This is her first collection. You can buy I HOPE YOU'RE HAPPY from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages Rippling points 2.00 - The women that inspired the stories 4.08  - Giving the characters control or not 5.41 - Moments in the Spotlight 8.26 - Marni's bold story titles 10.47 - Public and private selves 13.17 - Social media and the writer 14.15 - Theatre in Marni's stories 18.10 - The different lives characters have 20.15 - How Marni writes about men 23.10 - The significance of mirrors 25.30 - Safe spaces 27.07 - Different registers and discourses 29.16 - Marni's journey to getting the book published. Reference Points Melissa Febos Taylor Swift

"Being published in English is a big milestone..." Vincenzo Latronico is here to talk about his first novel translated into English - PERFECTION, published by Fitzcarraldo editions and translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes. Welcome to Rippling Points, more content insights and inspiration into the craft of literature: - How and why he set his novel in Berlin, or why locations don't become so important for the novel - The global market of translation and the pleasure of being translated into English Vincenzo is one of the most distinguished novelists writing in Italian today. He has also translated many books into Italian, by authors such as George Orwell, Oscar Wilde, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hanif Kureishi. In PERFECTION, there's something missing from Anna and Tom's life, and they can't quite put their finger on what it is that is missing. It drives them to impatience and to the point of leaving their apartment in Berlin. But is it merely an itch they cannot scratch, or does it relate to a deeper lack of authenticity that strikes their core? You can buy PERFECTION from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops as all sales are from indie bookshops! Interested in hosting your own podcast? Follow this link and find out how: https://www.podbean.com/ripplingpages Reference Points Elena Ferrante Minae Mizumura - The Fall of Language in the Age of English

“Love is a dangerous topic.” Vincenzo Latronico is here to talk about his first novel translated into English - PERFECTION, published by Fitzcarraldo editions and translated from the Italian by Sophie Hughes. Vincenzo is one of the most distinguished novelists writing in Italian today. He has also translated many books into Italian, by authors such as George Orwell, Oscar Wilde, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Hanif Kureishi. In PERFECTION, there's something missing from Anna and Tom's life, and they can't quite put their finger on what it is that is missing. It drives them to impatience and to the point of leaving their apartment in Berlin. But is it merely an itch they cannot scratch, or does it relate to a deeper lack of authenticity that strikes their core? You can buy PERFECTION from the Rippling Pages bookshop: https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/ripplingpagespod Buying from this link supports the podcast (I receive a 10% commission) and indie bookshops! Rippling Points  2.18 - Desirability and Familiarity  4.27 - Driving the characters to dissatisfaction  7.05 - Does Vincenzo want us to ‘care' about the characters? 10.20 - Any city or Berlin 12.50 - The loss of authenticity  16.20 - Are Anna and Tom in love? 21.30 - Is there another side to Berlin? 23.45 - The migrant crisis and activism  29.15 - On being translated into English   Reference Points Hand Magnus Enzensberger  Michel Houellebecq  George Perec

“They had one objective - to get rid of certain men” Welcome to the first edition of Rippling Points - bonus content from last month's episode! A little bit more insight and a little bit more inspiration into the craft of writing! Here, you can hear Pola talking about her delve into the archives to learn more about Argentina in 1970s.  You'll then hear Pola talking about her next project, Bad Hombre - which features real life accounts collected from Pola of women who were wanting to ‘ruin men's lives'.   Pola Oloixarac, one of the most exciting voices in world literature today, was here to talk about her two novels that have been translated into English. Most recently SAVAGE THEORIES and then MONA (translated by Roy Kesey and Adam Morris). Both are published by Serpent's Tail. She was named by Granta as one of the Best Young Spanish novelists as well as this and has written for a wide range of publications and is an Eccles Centre Fellow SAVAGE THEORIES is a metaphysical, intertextual journey set in 1970s Buenos Aires. Rosa Ostreech struggles with her thesis on violence and culture and sleeps with a bourgeois former guerrilla while trying to kidnap her elderly professor. MONA is a satirical novel set within a global literary prize-giving event. It's about the fetishisation of characteristics and the global market place of writers.  Buy Savage Theories here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/savage-theories-pola-oloixarac/2102898?aid=15004&ean=9781800818187 Buy Mona Here: https://uk.bookshop.org/p/books/mona-pola-oloixarac/6331115?aid=15004&ean=9781788169899

“I think it's much more interesting to explore women through their powers.” Pola Oloixarac, one of the most exciting voices in world literature today, is here to talk about her two novels that have been translated into English. Most recently SAVAGE THEORIES and then MONA (translated by Roy Kesey). Both are published by Serpent's Tail. She was named by Granta as one of the Best Young Spanish novelists as well as this and has written for a wide range of publications and an Eccles Centre Fellow   SAVAGE THEORIES is a metaphysical, intertextual journey set in 1970s Buenos Aires. Rosa Ostreech struggles with her thesis on violence and culture and sleeps with a bourgeois former guerrilla while trying to kidnap her elderly professor. MONA is a satirical novel set within a global literary prize-giving event. It's about the fetishisation of characteristics and the global market place of writers.  There's also a festive treat for you in this episode. In the break, hear a reading from A POEM FOR EVERYDAY OF CHRISTMAS edited by Allie Esiri (MacMillan). I read Lemn Sissay's ‘Let There Be Peace'.   Reference Points Thomas Bernhard Robert Bolano Karl Ove Knausgaard Dark Constellations - Soho Press

"I think it's a story few people have told before. And it's really about, what does a defender of human rights look like?" Iris Mwanza is here to talk about her novel, THE LION'S DEN (Canongate Books). Iris's novel is about a human rights lawyer, Grace Zulu, whose client Willbess ‘Bessy' Mulenga, has been arrested for offences ‘against nature. It launches Grace, and Iris, into the underbelly of the legal system. Iris is deputy director of the Gender Equality Division of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she leads strategy and investment for the Women in Leadership portfolio, and she has previously worked as a corporate lawyer in both Zambia and the US. Rippling Points 01.35 - Recording on the morning of the American election 02.41 - Who are the main characters 05.45 - Public institutions, the global south and colonialism 08.59 - When Iris saw the system for what it was 11.17 - ‘True believers' who inspired this novel 13.41 - Why Grace is the way she is 16.09 - Grace's clashes write father Sebastian 21.27 - Guilt 26.10 - The tragedy of Bessy's case 28.01 - Challenges promoting the book in Zambia 30.23 - Writing the court room Click here for links to all Rippling Pages socials

“The book is me trying to have a conversation with my father and reach a middle ground.”   Friða Ísberg is here to talk about THE MARK (Faber and Faber) translated by Larissa Kyzer. The book centres on a referendum in Iceland about whether mandatory tests should be imposed on its citizens. Friða talks about writing over the divide, arguments with her father, and Icelandic literary culture and how they have all shaped the book.  Rippling Points 02:05 - what is the mark? 04:12 - where are the divides? 06:30 - working in London while Brexit happened 08:07 - Frida's relationship with her dad and how it informed The Mark 11.15 - feeding emotion into a novel 13:46 - is it easier to write characters we agree with? 18:31 - Icelandic meaning of The Mark and how it relates to divides. 21:25 - why an empathy test? 25.51 - who is profiting from the mark? 28:30 - is one in ten a published writer in Iceland? 31:22 - do writers have a public duty? Reference Points Writers Fernanda Melchor Jacqueline Rose George Saunders Ali Smith Films There's Something About Mary (1998, dir: Peter and Bobby Farrelly)    

“Some people have been, oh these women are so grotesque. I don't think they are! They're quite relatable.”   Naomi Wood joins me to discuss THIS IS WHY WE CANT HAVE NICE THINGS (Published by Orion) It's a collection that features the BBC Short Story Prize winner, Comorbidities. We talk about different kinds of intimacy in the stories, and how or why Naomi often writes about mothers in the . Naomi also talks about the craft and how she clashed registers to dazzling effect. Naomi Wood is the bestselling author of The Godless Boys, Mrs. Hemingway and The Hiding Game. As a novelist, her books have won a Jerwood Award, the British Library Hay Festival Prize, and been shortlisted for the Walter Scott Prize, the Dylan Thomas Prize, and the Historical Writers Golden Crown. Mrs. Hemingway was a Richard and Judy Bookclub pick in 2014 and a Chanel Bookclub pick in 2023. Rippling Points 1.45- comorbidities and winning the bbc short story prize award  5.34 - pie charts' 8.17 - on writing about mothers 10.29 - transgressive actions in characters 12.07 - complicated or bad?  15.48 - what's a register clash? 18.54 - are they healing? 23,20 - influence of the pandemic and previous novels  27.30 - what do we do with old me? 29.04 - what's next for Naomi?   Reference Points Rachel Cusk Yan Ge Ernest Hemingway    Elizabeth Morris' Crib Notes: https://cribnotesbookclub.substack.com

"I think their experience in the bookstore is trying to think literary inheritance and spiritual and intellectual experience." Sam sax is here to discuss YR DEAD, their debut novel about Ezra, a queer, non-binary 27-year-old of Jewish heritage, whose life we see in fragments and flashbacks when they self-immolate outside trump tower. We talk about qualities of wandering, the multiplicities of Jewish identities, and what second hand bookstores can tell us about legacies and life. Sam's PIG was named one of the best books of 2023 by New York Magazine and Electric Lit. They're also the author of Madness, winner of The National Poetry Series and ‘Bury It' winner of the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets YR DEAD is published by McSweeney's in the US and Daunt Books in the UK Reference Points  01.30 - who is Ezra 02.20 - is Ezra a flaneur? 04.53 - why the novel is set on this day 06.28 - the multiplicity of Jewish identity 09.40 - how death or organises or doesn't organise the novel 15:00 different desires 19:20 - Ezra's mother and her absence 24.25 - second hand bookshops and legacies 29.00 - the hopeful message of Sam's novel Reference Points Hervé Guibert Andrea Lawlor Virginia Woolf

"I'd done a lot of clay-making...you can spend a lifetime and only get good at one technique!" Jennifer Lucy Allan joins me to talk about her second book, CLAY: A HUMAN HISTORY (White Rabbit Books). After Jennifer's exploration and writing about sound in The Foghorn's Lament (White Rabbit Books), Jennifer has, quite literally, turned her hand to a more physical and enduring substance in clay. From Japanese Tea Ceremonies, to humans making their own image, to life on Mars, clay is seemingly everywhere. Jennifer is also a presenter on BBC Radio 3's Late Junction.  Rippling Points 1.20 - How Jennifer's early experience with clay led to her enchantment of it and then writing this boundless history 6.04 - How the book on clay differs to Jennifer's previous book on foghorns 10.30 - Ephemerality of sound and permanence of clay - the writing challenges. 13.40 - Clay: its history compared with human history 15:15 - Who is Marija Gimbutas, and why is she important 21:15 - Language and touch 24.40 - Climate change and how it's revealing more about clay 28.00 - How clay becomes an object Reference Points Marija Gimbutas. Ladi Kwali Maria Martinez    

"This book is begging to be written...It has this a frontier-ness to it..." Bruce Omar Yates is here to discuss his upcoming novel published by Dead Ink Books, THE MUSLIM COWBOY .  In a contemporary and entertaining novel set in aftermath of the Iraq war, a man who is obsessed with old Western movies dresses in double denim and roams a lawless landscape in search of his own Western story.  Rippling Points 1.32 - Bruce's family and how these fed into ideas about a 'muslim cowboy' 4.30 - Nameless and speechless: playing with the archetype of the cowboy 6.20 - Song writing in Nashville to writing this novel 8.40 - Iraq as the setting for the novel 12.00 - Removing binaries around what is good and not good 17.33 - A camel and child - the other characters 20.53 - The novel as a sandbox 25.30 - The act of making his characters watch westerns Reference Points Aladdin (1992. Dir: John Musker and Ron Clements) David Foster Wallace Don Quixote - Miguel de Cervantes  Lucky Luke - Goscinny Once Upon a Time in the West (1969. Dir: Sergio Leone) The Road - Cormac McCarthy (2006) Shane (1953. Dir: George Stevens) True Grit (1969. Dir: Henry Hathaway) Zadie Smith

"The smotheringly neutral voice" Claire Carroll is here to talk about her new and debut collection of short stories THE UNRELIABLE NATURE WRITER. A truly candid insight into the workings of craft and being a writer from one of the most exciting and upcoming fiction writers today. THE UNRELIABLE NATURE WRITER is published by Scratch Books - more here Rippling Points 2.00 - Claire's dreams and reading. 4.55 - The different personal and impersonal voices in Claire's work 10:37 - Being a writer and knowing or not knowing answers 13:12 - Unreliable narrators and what they mean to Claire 18:00 - How and why Claire writes about animals. 24:30 - The challenge of having 'authority' on the climate crisis 28.40 - Giving the stories a sense of wonder 30:00 - Claire's book tour!   Reference Points Franz Kafka Cormac McCarthy - The Road Ben Pester Saba Sams Samantha Walton - The Nature Cure  

"The garden is a co-author" Marchelle Farrell is here to talk about her essay in a new anthology from Daunt Books, BY THE RIVER: ESSAYS FROM THE WATER'S EDGE. I've wanted to talk to Marchelle since the publication of UPROOTING: FROM THE CARIBBEAN TO THE COUNTRYSIDE - Canongate Books), so it was great to have her here when she's part of an anthology featuring the likes of Caleb Azumah Nelson and Tessa Hadley. Marchelle, a consultant psychiatrist as well as a writer, often blends personal history with reflections on how colonial history has shaped the world and behaviour Rippling Points 1.25 - The rivers that Marchelle writers about in her essay, 'Memory River 4.06 - the noise of the river and how it infiltrated Marchelle's dreams 7.08 - A sense of renewal and writing about childhood 9.00 - The pain and joy in revisiting childhood 12.34 - Marchelle's belief on balancing both pain and joy in life. 15.04 - The story of Marchelle's family and forgotten stories 18.23 - Can anything ever be permanently erased? 20.22 - Leaving space for the reader to make interpretations. 22.13 - The river and its links to colonial history. 25.22 - How the 'English' garden isn't so English. 28.20 - What is play and why is it important Reference Points Jo Hamya Amy Key Donald Winnicott

"I wanted to be talking choice in a way that was routed in a social context, and that was true to the particularity and intimacy that I shared with my mum at the end of her life." Marianne Brooker is here to talk about her Women's Prize for Non-Fiction shortlisted essay, INTERVALS, published by Fitzcarraldo Editions. Marianne talks about her life and living with her mother who was diagnosed with primary progressive multiple sclerosis. The book is a blend of memoir, philosophy, literary criticism, and politics.  It's a tough but incredibly beautiful read.  Rippling Points 2.05 - When Marianne decided this story about her mother was going to be a book 3.40 - 'Trying, circling, avoiding' - setting down to write a book like this 4.30 - How Marianne would categorises this book 7:00 -  On planning or not planning the book 8:44 - When Marianne's mother developed primary progressive multiple sclerosis 10:20 - Finding a voice and coming up with a 'vocabulary' 12:20 - The 'forces' in the book and Marianne's mother 16:10 - Marianne's relationship with her mother. 20:00 - What primary progressive multiple sclerosis is. 22:20 - Marianne on 'choice'  25:21 - When Marianne found a video of her mother. Reference Points Writers Roland Barthes Annie Ernaux Clarissa Pinkola Estés - Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype  Saidiya Hartman Alice Hattrick Sophie Lewis Sam Mills Margery Williams - The Velveteen Rabbit Filmmakers Chantal Akerman

"That whole question of the invisible life...that there's something going on we cannot see that determines our health and the future of the planet." Dawn Garisch, one of South Africa's most pre-eminent writers, joins the Rippling Pages to talk about Breaking Milk, published in the UK by Heloise Press. Shortlisted for the prestigious Sunday Times South Africa/CNA Literary Awards '21, it finally lands on our shores. Dawn is also a doctor and a CEO of the Life Righting Collective, a non-profit organisation aiming to provide creative practice as a low-cost resource for humane, responsible and compassionate attitude in institutions and society as a whole. Find out more here: https://liferighting.com/ Rippling Points 1.40 - Who the narrator (Kate) of this novel is, and why Dawn chose to write about her at this point in the narrator's life. 7.00 - Why Dawn spent some time making cheese for the book 8.40 - what separates us from our parents and other people 11.43 - Kate's former job as a geneticist 14.26 - The voice of the inner critic 17.54 - The benefits of the life writing collective 21.00 - Kate's husband, the other writer in the book. 27.30 - Dawn's work as a doctor. Reference Points Christa Wolf - Accident: A Day's News J.M. Coetzee Disgrace Dawn Garisch - Eloquent Body Bessel Van der Kolk - The Body Knows the Score Jaakp Panksepp Donald Winnicott Virginia Woolf - Mrs Dalloway Virginia Woolf - A Room of One's Own.

"Wounds, whilst they open us to the world...they can be points of infection."  Welcome to 2024 and a new episode of the Rippling Pages. Rachel Mann is a poet, scholar, novelist and Anglican priest. She is Rachel Mann is here to talk about her new collection, Eleanor Among the Saints (Carcanet), which takes inspiration from the life of Eleanor 'John' Rykener. A trans woman, seamstress, embroider, and sex worker who lived in medieval England. More info about the book here This is Rachel's second collection after Kingdom of Love (also Carcanet - and which I reviewed here!) The book is a Poetry Book Society recommendation and you kind find tickets to her launch here. Tickets to the Carcanet launch of the book here: https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/events?showpage=913 This show comes with a content warning - we do talk about some sensitive topics, such as domestic violence, so please do take care of yourself when listening. Rippling Points 5.05 - Poetry and embroidery 8.03 - What Eleanor's story,  and Rachel's poetry, tells us about embodiedness 11.45 - Society and Eleanor's story 14.54 - How details about Eleanor's life helped in writing the collection. 18.30 - 'Violence' in craft and the writing process. 21.45 - How themes of violence and the body converge in Rachel's poems. 28.20 - 'Fear' of working with heavy and sensitive topics Reference Points Gilles Deleuze Umberto Eco

"Kathy had a documentary impulse that is teaching us now." Jo Scott-Coe returns to the Rippling Pages to talk about her latest book, UNHEARD WITNESS: THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KATHY LEISSNER WHITMAN (University of Texas Press) Jo is a previous guest of the podcast, joining us in Series 2 to discuss MASS (Pelekinesis), an account of Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower Shooter.  Listen to that episode here: https://ripplingpages.podbean.com/e/jo-scott-coe-on-mass/ Now she returns to discuss a follow-up to that book, the story of Whitman's wife, Kathy Leissner Whitman. This show comes with a content warning - we do talk about some sensitive topics, such as domestic violence, so please do take care of yourself when listening. Rippling Points Returning to the story: where the last book left us (2:30) How Kathy's letters tell the story: Being with Kathy's 'intimate testimony' to tell her powerful and painful story (19:30) Reference Points Sylvia Plath Evan Stark Jane Monckton-Smith If you've enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop  

"It's not confessional...but it's absolutely full of concrete details of things that I've observed or really happened." Charlotte Eichler joins the Rippling Pages to discuss her new collection, SWIMMING BETWEEN ISLANDS, published by Carcanet Tickets to Tom Branfoot launch that I'm hosting here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/boar-book-launch-tickets-733576425837 Rippling Points Fruit bats: the mystery of the mystery, and how we write it Unnatural world: how even poets find it difficult to connect with nature Reference Points Anthony Vahni Capildeo

"There was a lot of solitude quiet and silence, and I believe poetry exists in relation to silence." Baron Wormser, a former National Endowment for the Arts and Guggenheim Fellow, is here to talk about his eleventh collection of poetry, THE HISTORY HOTEL, and THE ROAD WASHES OUT IN SPRING , an account of a poet living life off the grid.  Tickets to Tom Branfoot launch that I'm hosting here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/boar-book-launch-tickets-733576425837 Rippling Points The rhythm of poetry, the poetry of jobs: how the different rhythms of the jobs Baron undertook in rural Maine influenced his poetry  A chance of tragedy: Baron's philosophy of tragedy, chance, and, ultimately, life Reference Points Charles Taylor - A Secular Age (Harvard University Press) Baron Wormer - Teach us That Peace (Piscataqua Press) Baron Wormser - Tom O'Vietnam (New Rivers Press) Emily Dickinson Robert Frost William Shakespeare Walt Whitman

"it took a lot of courage to keep going and channel that sadness and melancholy into pictures of such joy and exuberance " Leslie Smolan, widow and creative partner of the photographer Rodney Smith is here to talk about a new book celebrating his life and work.  A LEAP OF FAITH, with essays from Paul Martineau, Rebecca Senf, and Graydon Carter, is also packed full of Rodney's iconic images. It's published by Getty Publications (available here ) Leslie is a founder and director of the Carbone-Smolan agency. She met Rodney in the 90s and worked with him on his most iconic shoots.  There's a whole host of events going on this week to celebrate A Leap of Faith: David Campany and Paul Martineau will be in conversation at the Fashion Institute of Technology on the 27th September - But your tickets here The first NYC exhibition of Rodney's work will be held at the Staley Wise Gallery, with a book signing launching the exhibit on the 28th September. More info here. Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points In fashion: how Rodney transcended the genre to create timeless images Hang on to your hats: Enduring and iconic motifs  Reference Points Ansel Adams Wes Anderson Henri Cartier-Bresson Walker Evans  Federico Fellini René Magritte Cary Grant Alfred Hitchcock Edward Hopper Irving Penn Tom Wolfe

"We live in a world where we increasingly want to control everything...I hope that in fictional spaces, the effort of trying to keep up becomes so much you eventually say, hey, let's go." Nii Ayikwei Parkes is here to discuss his second novel, Azúcar, published by Peepal Tree Press. How do we grow in... Fictional spaces: understanding when we're not in control Real spaces: understanding control and conditioning Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Nii is also director of poetry publisher, Flipped Eye publishing. We featured Samatar Elmi and Katherine Lockton back in series one of the Rippling Pages for their new pamphlets. You can listen to those episodes here: Samatar Elmi: https://ripplingpages.podbean.com/e/samatar-elmi-and-a-portrait-of-colossus/ Katherine Lockton: https://ripplingpages.podbean.com/e/katherine-lockton-on-paper-doll-flipped-eye-anniversary-part-1/

"I hate judging characters - you have to have respect for people's origins." James Clarke is here to talk about his new novel, Sanderson's Isle, published by Serpent's Tail (buy here) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points Ebullient characters: stepping into the sixties and using real-life figures as reference points and inspiration Lost and looking: writing characters that are lost and looking for someone, or maybe anyone. Reference Points Francis Bacon Lucia Berlin Patrick deWitt - The Sister's Brothers Jack Kerouac Ian Nairn Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita Terry Southern - The Magic Christian Event with Charlie Baylis in Leeds - tickets here: 

'I wanted to write a queer love story, Blackpool is crying out for literary renditions and I'm obsessed by Ulysses.' Helen Palmer is here to talk about her Ulysses inspired queer love story, Pleasure Beach which is published by Prototype (more info here!) Enjoyed today's episode? Leave a tip!: https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points Corrie and the Tower: setting a novel in Blackpool.  Time please: The enduring appeal of a novel set in a day Reference Points James Joyce Julia Kristeva Coronation Street

"There is a genuine search for something - much of the time it turns out to be distraction." Duncan Wiese joins me from Denmark to discuss his new collection of poetry based on Virgil's Eclogues, Tityrus: A Pastoral. Published by Lolli Editions (more info here!), the poems were translated by Max Minden Ribeiro (Pelle Hvenegaard's Dear Zoe Ukhona and Finn Juhl: Life, Work, World by Christian Bundegaarand) and  Sam Riviere (81 Austerities, Kim Kardashian's Marriage) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points Life in the twenties: Tityrus as an emblem of finding your way in life, sitting alongside pop culture. Driven to distraction: how 'Rome's great poet's' ideas of the pastoral influenced a story of today. Reference Points Writers Anne Carson Virgil's Eclogues - You can read on Project Gutenberg for free here:  TV Shows Beverly Hills 90210 Friends That 70's Show.   

"I was interested in stories with stories and how the family used folklore to approach conflict" Soraya Palmer joins me from Brooklyn to discuss her debut novel, recently released in the UK, The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts, published by Serpent's Tail (more info here!). We speak about hauntings, family narratives, and Anansi the animal trickster! Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Tales from the Caribbean: myth and folklore re-told in modern day Brooklyn Life inside the multiverse: seeing different aspects of characters through time. Reference Points Writers Toni Morrison Film and TV Buffy the Vampire Slayer The Exorcist Myths and Folklore Anansi Ol Higue Rolling Calf

It's a Catalan Literature in Translation Special! I'm delighted to welcome Mara Faye Lethem and Tiago Miller to discuss two recently released books from Catalonia Irene Solà's When I Sing, Mountains Dance has has been re-released in paperback translated by Mara for Granta Josep Maria Argemí's The Angel of Santa Sofia has been newly released and translated by Tiago for Fum d'Estampa Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Good and Evil: how the boundaries between what's right and wrong are blurred and might reflect debates about Catalonian history The Catalan Language: Literature and it's role in keeping a language thriving Reference Points: Irene Solà's first novel Els dics (The Dams, L'Altra Editorial, 2018) Jaume Cristòfol Pons Alorda Jorge Luis Borges Víctor Català Jordi Cussa Josep Palau i Fabre Maria Mercè Marçal Mercè Rodoreda Marià Vayreda Artists Caravaggio Salvador Dali Mara's Essay in Lithub: https://lithub.com/author/marafayelethem/

"I was fascinated by the idea of what is real and what isn't real what people perceive to be real and not real" Welcome back to Series 4 of the Rippling Pages. And Seraphina Madsen is here to talk witches, the occult and different realities! Aurora is Seraphina's second novel and is published by Dodo Ink Read an extract here Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Witchhunts and witchcraft - a cultural phenomenon or do novels about it reveal something more pervasive about our culture? Permission to read - knowing no boundaries and enjoying what you read. How Aurora and her friend's quest for new knowledge is something to be embraced Reference Points: Dee Brown - Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee Carlos Castaneda Joseph Campbell Dion Fortune Jack Kerouac - On the Road Seraphina Madsen - Dodge and Burn The Book of the Dead

"I don't think poetry should be giving a lesson to anyone" Caitlin Stobie is here to talk about THIN SLICES, her new collection from Verve Press (Pre-order here ) Caitlin examines culture's need for 'origin' myths, as well as asking what is a language for the pre-lingual? We recorded this episode in the run-up to Caitlin's appearance at Ilkley Literature Festival - more of which you can find out here: https://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk/whats-on And find out more about the University of Leeds Poetry Centre here - https://poetry.leeds.ac.uk/ Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points Who needs origin myths? Lessons re-learned from Eve Leave no trace: what we leave when we leave Reference Points Malcolm Gladwell - Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking Eileen Myles - Chelsea Girls Donald Winnicott  

Both writer and translator of SALT CRYSTALS, Cristina Bendek and Robin Myers, are here to discuss this shape-shifting and history-searching novel.  A book about a woman, Victoria, who explores her own and the island she's from, San Andrés's, history. Find out more about the book here Rippling Points: A momentaneous piece or peace? How can we write about the transient, the changing, in a form which preaches endurability and timelessness? Disease as a symptom: why Cristina chose to write about diabetes Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop   Reference Points: Geoffrey Hill

"It's a quest to try to collect all of the Picadors..." Nicholas Royle is here to talk about White Spines: Confessions of a Book Collector, and his journey to find Picador books. You can buy the book here   Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points The Second Life of Books: the second-hand bookshop as a home for new, undiscovered and forgotten writers Got to Catch Them All: Is your favourite bookshop named?   Writers and Books AJ Ashworth Andrea Ashworth The Lake John Foxx (Nightjar Press) M. John Harrison Anna Kavan - Ice (Picador: 1967) Alberto Manguel (editor) Black Water: The Anthology of Fantastic Literature (Picador: 1983) Livi Michael - The Lake (Nightjar Press) Alison Moore Nicholas Royle - First Novel (Vintage: 2013) Nicholas Royle - Counterparts (Penguin: 1995) Nicholas Royle - Ornithology (Confingo: 2017) Nicholas Royle - An English Guide to Bird Watching (Myriad Editions: 2017) Nicholas Royle - Uncanny (Manchester University Press: 2003) Per Wahlöö - The Lorry (Picador: 1972) Conrad Williams Artists Paul Delvaux Salvador Dali  

"All this wouldn't have happened without that experience of cancer..." Caroline Clark is here with one of the most tender and moving books due to be released this year: Own Sweet Time. Caroline's book is about the "hardest thing she's been through physically" and the "hardest things she's found mentally.  Find out more book here:    Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points In the moment: how do we translate our most difficult moments? By your side: verbatim writing Reference Points: Svetlana Alexievich - Chernobyl Prayer Marit Kapla - Osebol: Voices from a Swedish Village Caroline's interview with Rowena MacDonald - https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/sovietica-an-interview-with-caroline-clark/ Caroline's Previous Books Saying Yes in Russian (2012: Agenda Editions) Sovetica (2020: CB Editions)

"As humans, we're really scared of forgetting..." Welcome back for another episode of the Rippling Pages – I'm delighted to speaking to Sarah Schofield, author of the short story collection, SAFELY GATHERED IN (Comma Press - you can find here) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Safely Gathered In? Containment as a literary, psychological and physical idea Shopping lists and short stories: when fiction crosses over with the everyday.   Reference Points: Elizabeth Baines Roald Dahl Tania Hershman Adrian Henri Mary Shelley William Wordsworth

"Song is very powerful...it's not a truth teller, it's a state-changer." Richard Price joins today's show to discuss his collection of 'Three Inuit Stories Retold.' Published by Carcanet, the book was a Scotsman Book of the Year in 2021, and Richard joined me to discuss the challenges of retelling these tales. You can buy the book here: https://www.carcanet.co.uk/cgi-bin/indexer?product=9781800171176 Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop   Rippling Points Don't read it on Wikipedia: shedding light on expectations of roles Travelling by song: the powerful nature of song. Reference Points Ron King, artist Small World by Richard Price (2012: Carcanet) Quentin Tarantino

"The first thing that came to me? A woman, alone with the sea, and in charge of her own destiny?"   Welcome back to the Rippling Pages and Series Three: Beneath the Surface.    We have Erica Mou and Clarissa Botsford here to discuss Thirsty Sea. Erica is a successful musician with six albums to her name. Her novel is translated by Clarissa and published by exciting new press, Héloïse Press, who are championing world-wide female talent. You can buy the book here: https://www.heloisepress.com/book/thirsty-sea Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop   Rippling Points Sea change? How Erica sings and writes about the sea Translating as a reader: How Clarissa read the book 'like a reader.' Reference Points Erica's podcast, Punti di Fuga  'Contro le Onde' by Erica Mou  

"It's nice to see my imagination dressed with my words...It's very interesting to see a universe in other words." What a pleasure have both Emilio Fraia and Zoë Perry to discuss with me the writing and translating of Emilio's novel Sevastopol (Lolli Editions - buy here) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Ripping Points: A common tone: how the creation of a certain atmosphere leads to individual variations  How Sevastopol was translated into English Reference Points Péter Esterházy Graham Greene William Kennedy Leo Tolstoy Raymond Williams Previous interview with Emilio and Zoë in Partisan Hotel

'You can't just have a greatest hits collection, there has to be a flow of ideas.' Charlie Baylis, poet, critic, and editor joined me to talk about his latest collection, Santa Lucía, published by Invisible Hand Press - available here Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Day and Night: structuring around the rhythms of the day The conscious art of repeating Reference Points Poets John Ashbery Sean Bonney SJ Fowler Selima Hill Luke Kennard Aaron Kent Andrew McMillan Chelsey Minnis Frank O'Hara Sophie Robinson Matthew Welton Charlie's interview with Andrew McMillan Charlie's previous collections Hilda Doolittle's Carl Jung t-shirt (erbacce press, 2018) Swimming (Red Ceilings Press, 2019) Novels Albert Camus - The Stranger (1942) Artists Damien Hirst Andy Warhol  

"It seemed to be a flashpoint moment, it was saying more than we thought it was saying." Jo Scott-Coe joins me to talk about Charles Whitman, the man known as the 'Texas Tower Sniper'. In this discussion which touches on some challenging subjects, Jo discusses her book and the journey behind the writing of the book MASS: A Sniper, a Father, and a Priest (published by Pelekinesis Press) Please be advised we recorded this conversation earlier this year and discuss issues of a sensitive nature Rippling Points: 'Senseless Acts': the troubling terminology of describing acts as 'senseless' Not an isolated incident: building up the picture and story of the crime. Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Reference Points Films American Sniper (2014: directed by Clint Eastwood) Spotlight (2015: directed by Tom McCarthy Articles More was found about Priest Leduc here following the publication of Jo's book: https://www.pe.com/2019/02/16/priest-named-on-molestation-list-was-texas-snipers-scoutmaster-friend-and-confidant/

'All the way through the book, it should feel like there's going to be some kind of ending which will enable a potential future' What a pleasure to welcome Jessie Greengrass to talk about the High House! (Buy here). We talk about the climate crisis and writing about the end times. Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Is this the end for me, you, all of us? What's it like writing about characters and limited horizons? The history of flooding: researching local and national history for lessons about the past and the future. Reference Points: Books Sight, Jessie's first novel An Account of the Decline of the Great Auk, According to One Who Saw It, Jessie's collection of short stories Moby Dick by Herman Melville Alice Oswald. Liable to Flood (1974) - J.R Ravensdale We also discussed the Eyemouth Fishing Disaster, and the 1953 North Sea Flood which Jessie researched for the novel.

"The thing I learned last year is that the product is sometimes the problem" Jeff Chon joins me to discuss his novel, Hashtag Good Guy with a Gun, published by the exciting Sagging Meniscus press (buy here) Please be advised we recorded this conversation earlier this year and discuss issues of a sensitive nature with some instances of strong language Rippling Pages: Good guys and bad guys: a troubling distinction What's it like writing about people we really do not like? Reference Points Books Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger  Clockwork Orange - Anthony Burgess Films Death wish (1974: Michael Winner; 2018 remake starring Bruce Willis and directed by Eli Roth Falling Down (1993: Joel Schumacher) Fight Club (1999: David Fincher) Taxi Driver (1976: Martin Scorsese) Superheroes Superman Essays Alex Diggins on Hashtag Good Guy with a Gun for 3:AM Magazine  

'The south is a living breathing thing in this book. it's a personality.' Really excited to have American poet, Khalisa Rae, join me for series two, episode two! Khalisa is here to talk about Ghost in a Black Girl's Throat, published by Red Hen Press (buy here) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Title collection: the story of a title Surrounded by the best: environments of poetic creativity and support Reference Points Writers Maya Angelou Dasan Ahanu James Baldwin Gwendolyn Brooks Jericho Brown Camonghne Felix Nikky Finney Siarra Freeman Ada Limón Toni Morrison Alice Walker Interview between Khalisa and the writer/photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths  

Welcome Back! Series Two: Horizons is here with Polly Barton. "I wanted to give people tools they could then forget about for the rest of the book." Polly Barton is here to talk about Fifty Sounds, winner of the Fitzcarraldo Essay Prize 2019. (BUY HERE!) Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Loving others and loving language: is there one without the other? Wittgenstein: even he got it wrong at times Reference Points: Books Ray Monk - Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius Theory John Bowlby's Theory of Attachment

"The sense we don't have to trample on each other, to amplify each other, we can heal and nurture each other." Jacqueline Bishop is here to talk about her collection of interviews, The Gift of Music and Song: Interviews with Jamaican Women Writers (Buy here!) It's a perfect way to conclude the 'Finding Room' series - promoting the voices of some fantastic Jamaican women writers. Enjoyed this episode - why not send a small donation to support with the running costs! Thank you! - https://ko-fi.com/liambishop Rippling Points: Voices of nurturing and healing: Jamaican women writers Changing conceptions of society, but preserving these writers Reference Points We mention a lot of writers in this episode because the book is about writers. But it does cause us to reflect on some other names too Monique Roffey - (Monique selected Jacqueline's book as a cultural highlight in the Guardian) Jane Austen Jean Rhys Kamau Braithwaite George Lamming Derek Walcott